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Genoese Pesto World Championship 2024: the winner – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

The 10 finalists of the Genoese Pesto World Championship

How the selections for the Genoese Pesto World Championship take place

A long journey: before the final they were held at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa 24 qualifying matches, of which 13 in Italy and 11 abroad, between France, England, Spain, Holland, the United States, Niger and South Africa and Brazil. Races that brought together cooks of all ages who have chosen to try their hand at this ancient gastronomic art partly by chance and partly out of passion, for cooking and for Italy.

The competitors

This year’s youngest contestant was Nicolò Di Girolamo23 year old Roman student and rapper, known to the television audience for having also been among the contestants of the edition of the program Friends by Maria De Filippi of 2022. The oldest competitor, however, a Genoese veteran of the championship who turns 90 this year: Mrs. Maria Carbone. With them professionals, artisans, managers, but also chefs and doctors, of which 80 Italians and 20 foreigners.

Maria Carbone, the oldest competitor of this edition of the Genoese Pesto World Championship

How to participate in the Mortar Genoese Pesto World Championship

And even if Mattia Bassi won, ultimately everyone was the protagonist of the party. One of those cases where the important thing is to really participate. If you want to do it too, know that in a few days the qualifying races for the next world championship will begin, in 2026. The first will be on April 6th in Milan. All the info on www.pestochampionship.it

Martino Ruggieri from Puglia wins two stars in Paris – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

MR: «The goal was to reach the top since we opened and we are happy: we are already thinking not only about how to maintain the second star, but also about how to improve. This is a stage in my career, and it is important that it has arrived for me, for the team (ten people in the kitchen and five in the dining room for around twenty seats), for the future, but having always cooked in large restaurants, including the three stars, allow me to say that if the recognition doesn’t arrive, either you worked badly or you didn’t learn anything. Having said that, immediately after celebrating we started asking ourselves questions about the location and our type of cuisine because we always have to question ourselves in order to improve.”

You worked alongside Yannick Alléno for eight years: do you owe him much?

MR: «Yes. I owe Alléno everything and on stage, during the awards ceremony, I thanked him by telling him “Merci chef”. He replied: “C’est bien, well done, celebrate with dignity”. And then he added: “Yes, I helped you, but you took the two stars.” Alléno taught me a lot, on a technical, professional and human level and also helped me to have the right people at my side in this entrepreneurial adventure. I am one chef patron (owner chef), I don’t have the money of big restaurants, no investors behind it, if the restaurant is full profit, otherwise not. And this recognition was also important for the speed with which we achieved it: it doesn’t happen so often and my colleagues in Tours also pointed this out to me.”

Do you miss not working alongside Alléno anymore?

MR: «I miss the daily comparison, yes, but I’m happy to have a place of my own. I think I took this step at the right time with the correct maturity, experience and age. In this journey it was important to find an identity different from that of Alléno because when you create a cuisine for many years alongside a chef like him you need to differentiate yourself.”

What is the identity of your cuisine?

MR: «It is certainly very creative: I use bitters a lot, I like contrasts, I create a cuisine based on technique and sauces. When you come to eat with us you eat from a chef and by this I mean that there is substance, nothing is superfluous, you don’t find trends. My Italian side is pushed into memories, not in the dishes, I could say in the Mediterranean to summarize the concept of a cuisine that is nevertheless French, courageous, powerful, strong. I’m proud to be Italian, but I don’t seek Italianness at all costs.”

Genoese Pesto World Championship: the final on March 23rd – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

There are 100 competitors: 80 from Italy and 20 from abroad; the youngest is 20, the oldest is 90. They are the finalists of Genoese Pesto World Championship, on March 23 at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa. A key event for the Genoese and now not only for them. Because this competition, created to raise awareness the culture of the typical basil-based sauce, has crossed the borders of the region and Italy.

Genoese Pesto World Championship: how the competition takes place

Competitors now come from all over the world (even from Brazil), but in ten editions of Genoese Pesto World Championship there are two constants that fortunately have never changed: the playful spirit and joy that animates the race and the organizersand at the same time the regulation, rigid, which is faithful to the original pesto recipe. In fact, the competitors will have to prepare the pesto only with what is provided by the organizers, i.e. the ingredients of the recipe from the specifications of the Genoese Pesto Consortium: DOP Genoese basil from the Ligurian Riviera, Italian pine nuts, garlic from Vessalico (Imperia), DOP Parmigiano Reggiano, Sardinian flower, sea salt from the Trapani salt pans, DOP Ligurian Riviera DOP extra virgin olive oil.

What the Pesto Genovese champion wins

The 100 will compete in a first heat in the morning and then a jury made up of 30 expert judges – including we at “La Cucina Italiana” And a delegation from Alma, the prestigious international cooking school in Colorno (Parma) – will choose the best 10 for the final which will be played in the afternoon. Manual skill, colour, finesse, consistency and balance between the ingredients they will be the judging parameters based on which each proposal will be given a score. Up for grabs an olive wood pestle with a gold-wrapped handle worth around 2 thousand euros and worldwide fame, which is priceless.

What to do in Genoa during the Pesto World Championship

March 23rd will be a party, even before a race, hosted by Roberto Panizza, director of the championship, together with Marisa Passera, historic presenter of Radio Deejay, which will involve the entire city. The World Pesto Championship final will in fact be the highlight of a long series of events dedicated to the culture of pesto, but also to fun.
Among those that will be held on March 23, the Children’s Championship organized by the Consorzio del Basilico Genovese DOP, the Lollipop Choir with 20 choristers of all ages who will interpret theAnthem of the World Championship written by the band Buio Pesto. Meanwhile, outside the championship, there is a rich calendar. For example the March 21st a guided tour of the botanical garden with the theme “Essence of botany. Journey through perfumes, from the table to public greenery” and on March 22, in the Sala Trasparenza della Regione, a series of talks on the present and future of pesto, from the presentation of Genoese Pesto Revealed, that is, the presentation of the book by photographer Craig Wales, to a scientific research on the formula for the perfect pesto coordinated by Ben Thuriaux, before an inevitable demonstration on how pesto is produced in a mortar. Obviously it will be a special occasion to taste pesto: all week in Genoa there will be the “Ligurian Restaurateurs’ Pesto Week”who participate in the promotion of traditional cuisine in collaboration with Ascom, Confesercenti and Genova Liguria Gourmet (the complete program of the long weekend is on www.pestochampionship.it)

«Almost twenty years of work on the Mortar Pesto World Championship have changed the perception that the world has of our sauce”, said championship director Roberto Panizza. «The road is still long, but we think we have actively supported this growth: when we started, finding pesto in many medium-high range restaurants was almost impossible, while today even the most prestigious establishments offer it to customers. The championship’s work to promote the tradition of pesto and its recipe is therefore well underway and we are equipped to face the next twenty years.”

Gordon Ramsay Recipes